


And the Lives We Lead...

by GeneralPeridot



Category: PlanetES
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen, Series Finale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 21:23:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18484627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeneralPeridot/pseuds/GeneralPeridot
Summary: What if Planetes didn't burn up on re-entry and actually had a finale that made sense? What if the brilliantly constructed character arcs concluded in a way that wasn't a complete non-sequitur? What if it actually stayed true to its themes? I'm not sure, but I'm going to attempt to find out by rewriting the finale.





	And the Lives We Lead...

**Author's Note:**

> Planetes is one of my favorite shows ever. Its thematic depth was incredible -- its critiques of capitalism, alienation, neocolonialism, and exploitation were incisive and its exploration of ennui and existential dread were really insightful. I bawled my eyes out over Episode 25, and to be honest I wish it had just ended there. It was good to see Tanabe back on her feet, sure, and Hachi's proposal to her was adorable, of course. But how could someone who wrote Hakim so brilliantly up until this point so thoroughly misunderstand his driving conflicts and motivations? (Hakim is NOT a nationalist!) Was Claire's contrition supposed to be a comment on how effective the prison system is as brainwashing people into the dominant ideology a la 1984? (No, it was just bad writing.) Why Hachi has learned nothing from his foil Hakim and seems to have gotten the message from his revelation in episode 25 backwards now, and why is Tanabe's love so shallow that she's apparently given up her ambition to return to space as a debris collector and is a housewife now? (That might be an uncharitable take given that she could still be recovering, but it's also the last image we're left with of her, and she directly parallels Hachi's mother in this scene.) And why do none of the main characters seem to give a shit that Locksmith (who compares himself directly to a literal Nazi btw) is directly responsible for the murder of their ninja friends?
> 
> In short, thing bad, I'm going to try to make it better. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

No sound traveled in the vacuum of space, so all Hakim could hear was his own labored breathing. He dialed in the code to the SDF bunker, causing a hidden plate to retract and reveal a ladder down. He prepared to descend.

Twenty meters to his left, the lunar surface was suddenly lit with artificial light from the now-opened hospital airlock.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

A tall astronaut exited, leaping playfully down to the surface. As she turned, Hakim could just make out her face. She noticed him as well.

“Aw, you found me… Are you from the hospital?”

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

“Huh? My transmitter’s not turned on?”

If she thought he couldn’t hear her, she might come out further.

“No, I can hear you.”

She seemed unfazed by his voice. “Um, could you keep this a secret?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks!” came the reply. “Say, what’re you doing out here?”

He had no answer. After a pause, he replied, “What’s your name, kid?”

“Nono,” came the response. Instant. Trusting. Innocent. “I spend most my time here at the hospital, so I like to sneak out and see the surface sometimes. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It’s corrupted.”

“Huh?”

“Space has become monopolized by a handful of countries,” he explained. “The rich countries reap all the bounty of space and prevent the poor nations from taking what is theirs. We need to fix that, right? We need to start over, don’t we?”

“Start over?” The same innocent voice. “I don’t know much about that. Countries… Earth is divided up into those, right?”

Inhale. She… she didn’t know what a country was?

“Oh, I’m a Lunarian! I was born and raised here! So I’ve never seen any of those ‘country’ things myself.”

He sat on the ground, pensive. “This is your home, then? The moon? This city?”

“Yeah! Some people seem to think it’s just dust, but I think it’s great. I’ve read that you can see so many more stars out here than back on Earth.” She turned and looked up at the night sky. Hakim followed her gaze.

“It is beautiful.” Exhale.

“Say, can we see your ‘country’ from here?” Nono asked. Hakim glanced out at the Earth, its pale blue form half-cloaked in shadow.

“It’s hard to make out, but you can see some of it,” he explained, gesturing to the horizon. “There’s a lot of cloud cover right now, and it’s small, but it’s in the middle of that light brown portion at the bottom.”

The girl’s eyes sparkled as she turned them in the direction he pointed. “What’s it like there?”

“Hot and dry, mostly.” He paused. “It’s a bit like… if you hold your hand above the stove. The air feels like that.”

Nono’s nose wrinkled. In spite of himself, Hakim let out a soft chuckle.

“It’s not quite that hot, but that’s the idea. It does cool down a lot at night, too. A bit like the moon does. The food is delicious. And the people...”

Inhale. A long pause.

“What are the people like?” Her eyes were bright, filled with curiosity. A Lunarian. Trapped here. She had no home on Earth to go to, if she even could go there. She’d never see the deserts of Mananga, nor the glimmering skyscrapers of Tokyo.

“They’re like you, Nono,” he replied, smiling. “Friendly and welcoming to strangers.” He stood up and walked back toward the bunker.

He’d find a way to stop INTO and the rich nations from continuing to rob the poor. And he’d do it without sacrificing people like Nono.

Exhale.

All is space, and space belongs to all.


End file.
